Fence-machine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. S. PLACKARD.

V FENCE MACHINE. No. 365,150. Patented June 21,18Q7.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

s. PLAOKARD.

FENCE MACHINE.

No. 365,150. Patented June 21, 1887.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

EDGAR SHERMAN PLA'OKARD, OF ELVOOD, INDIANA.

FENCE-MACHINE SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 365,150,dated June 21, 1887.

Application filed March 23, 1887. Serial No. 932,159.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR SHERMAN PLAOKARD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, rcsiding at Elwood, in the county of Madison and StateofIndiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fence-MakingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in fence-making machines; and itconsists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side eleva tion of a fence-machineembodying my improvements, showing the same in operation to build afence. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detailedelevation of the wire-twisting machine. Fig. 4 is a similar view of thesame,"showing a different arrangement of the twisters and the wheels forrotating them. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of one of the tensiondevices. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the twisters.

A represents a vertical board, which forms the body or frame of thetwisting device. The said board is provided, near one side, with avertical slot, B, that extends nearly throughout the length of theboard, and on the opposite side of the same, near its lower side, is avertical slot, 0, which extends a suitable distance from the lower endof the board.

D represents a transverse plate or arm, which extends across the frontside of the board A, near the upper end thereof, and is secured to thesaid board by means of a bolt, E, which passes through the slot B, andis provided on its rear threaded end with a clamping-nut, F. By means ofthe said nut and bolt the plate or arm I) may be adjusted vertically onthe board A. One end of the said plate or arm projects beyond the outerside of the board A, and the said projecting end of the plate or arm isprovided with a circular opening, Gr, of suitable diameter. An openslot, H, is made in the extreme outer end of the plate or arm, andcommunicates with the opening G.

I represents an annular rotating twister, which is journaled in theopening G, and is adapted to rotate therein. A central. opening,

(No model.)

K, of suitable diameter, extends through the twister, and on the frontside of the latter is secured a sprocket-wheel, L. An open slot,M,-extends from one side of the opening K to the outer side of thetwister, and by turning the latter in the opening G, so that the slot Mcommunicates with the slot II, the wires of the fence may be inserted inthe opening in the center of the twisting device, as will be veryreadily understood.

N represents a pair of plates or arms, which are similar in constructionto the plate or arm D, and are secured to the board A by means ofclamping nuts and bolts 0. The said bolts extend through the slot B. Theplates or arms N are also vertically adjustable on the board, and areeach provided with a rotating annular twister, T, having on its frontside a s in-ocket-whcel, R, the said twisters on the sprocket-wheelsbeing similar in construction to the twister I and sprocket-wheel L.

S represents an arm, which is connected to the board A by means of abolt, T, which extends through the lower end of the arm and the slot 0.This bolt has its threaded end provided with the clamping-nut U, bymeans of which the arm may be secured at any desired vertical adjustmentin the slot.

V represents a large sprocket-wheel, which is journaled in the freeupper end of the arm S. A lever, \V, has its inner end pivoted on thesame shaft or pin that serves for the bearing of the sprocket-wheel V,and the said lever \V is provided witha spring-actuated locking-bolt, X,adapted to engage the teeth of the wheel V.

Y represents asiniilar sprocket-wheel, which is journaled in one end ofthe arm D on the same side of the said arm with the sprocketwheel L. Thewheel Y is provided with a crank-handle, Z, by means of which it may bereadily rotated.

A represents a sprocket-ehain, which is made of detachable links,whereby the said chain may be taken apart and divided into sections ofany desired length. \Vhen it is de sired to operate all of the twisterssimultaneousl y, when the pickets to be employedin male ing the fenceare of a uniform length, the sprocketchain A connects the sprocket-W11eels It with the sprocket-wheels L.

13 represents a tension-bar, which is pr ICO . ground and thereby anchorthe tightening devided with a series of horizontal arms, G, that projectfrom one side thereof, the said arms having their inner ends bifurcatedto fit one edge of the tension-bar, and being secured thereto by meansof clamping bolts and nuts D. The outer ends of the arms 0 are broadenedand flattened, and the upper sides thereof are recessed, as at E, andthereby adapted to receive plates F. The upper sides of the flattenedportions of the arms O"are provi'ded, near their opposite sides, withlongitudinal grooves G, which'are adapted to receive the wires. Hrepresents clamping screws, which extend through the centers of theplates F, and have reduced lower ends, which extend through and are freeto turn in openings in,

the arms 0. To the lower ends of the screws are secured disks 7:, andthereby the said screws are swiveled to the arms and are adapted toclamp the said plates to the said arms, so as to secure the wiresbetween the opposing sides of the said plates and arms.

1 represents a wire-tightening device, which comprises a basc,,K, havingvertical sides L,

a winch, M, journaled transversely between the sides L, a ratchet-wheel,N, rigidly secured to one end of the winch, a pivoted lever, 0, having aspringactuated pawl, P, to engage the ratchet-wheel, and aspring-actuated detent, R, pivoted to one of the sides L, and adapted toengage the ratchet-wheel to prevent retrograde rotation of the winch.Ropes or chains S are attached to thelatter, and are adapted to becoiled or wound uponthe same, and the ends of the said ropes or chainsare provided wit-h hooks adapted to engage yokes T, with which thetension-bar is provided, nearits upper and lower ends. The front ends ofthe sides L of the tightening device are provided with yokes U, andropes or chains V are attached to the said yokes and to stakes W, whichare adapted to be driven into the vice.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The wires a are stretchedfrom apost, b,'at one end of the proposedline'of fence by means of thetension-bar and its tension arms and plates, and the tighteningdevice Iis anchored to the ground at a suitable distance from the tensiombar andin line with the fence-post.

The twisters are then turned so that their slots coincide with the slotsHin the plates or arms, and the wires a are insertedthrough the saidcoincident slots into the central openings in the twisters, and areengaged by means of hooks c, with which the rear sides of the twistersare provided, the said hooks being arranged on opposite sides of thecentral openings in the twisters. The winch is turned by means of thelever O and the spring-actuated pawl, so as to wind the'ropes S, andthereby draw the tension-bar ]3 forward, so as to stretch and tightenthe wire. I will assume that the pickets to be used in the fence are ofuniform height, and in this event the sprocket-wheels of all of thetwisters will be connected together by the sprocket-chain A, as beforede scribed, and as shown in Fig. 3. The twisting device is then movedrearward on the wires to within a suitable distance of the starting-postb. The operator then inserts a picket,

d, between the wires and near the post b, and

swings the armS upward to cause thesprocketwheel V to engage thesprocket-chain A. He then grasps the lever \V, and thereby partlyrotates the wheel V, thus imparting motion to the sprocket-chain andthrough the latter to the rotary twisters, thus causing the saidtwisters to turn and twist the wires in front of the picket. Anotherpicket is then inserted in the bights of the wires and the twistingdevice is moved forward on the wires a suitable dis tance, and theoperator causes the wheel V to rotate in the opposite direction from itsprevious movement, and thereby the wires are twisted in the oppositedirection before the second picket, and the operation before describedis then repeated until one of the fence posts is reached, when the wiresare secured to the said post by means of staples, in the usual manner,and so on until the fence is completed.

WVhen pickets of unequal lengths are used, it becomes necessary toenable the upper twister to be rotated independently of the others, andthis I accomplish by disconnecting the chain A and converting it iutotwo independent chains, one of which connects the sprocket-wheelsIttogether and the other connects the sprocket-wheel L to the wheel Y,as shown in Fig. 4E. The lower twisters are rotated, as before, bymeans" of the sprocketwhcel V, and the upper twister is rotated, whennecessary, by means of the sprocketwhe'el Y.

The arms D and N are vertically adjustable on the board A, in order toraise the wires to any suitable height according to the length of thepickets employed in building the fence, and the arm S, which carries thesprocket wheel V, is vertically adjustable, in order that the saidsprocket-wheel may be caused at all times to engage the endlesssprocket-chain.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. In a fence-machine, thecombination of the board A, the vertically-adjustable arms thereon, therotary twisters journaled in the said arms,andhaving thesprocket-wheels, the endless chain connecting the sprocket wheels, thearm S, pivoted to the board and vertically adjustable thereon, thesprocket wheel V, journaled' to the free end of the arm S, and the leverWV, pivotally connected to the free end of arm S, and having the bolt orpurpose and adapted to engage the sprocket-chain to rotate the twisters,substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a fencemachine, of the board A, having thevertical slots B and O, the arms or plates, the clamping-bolt to securethe same to the board at any desired vertical adjustment, the saidclamping-bolts working in the slot 13, the rotary twisters carried bythe arms or plates, and having the sprocket-wheels, the endlesssprocket-chain connecting the said sprocket-wheels, the arm S, theclamping-bolt to secure one end of the arm to the board, the saidclamping-bolt working in the slot 0, and the operating sprocketwheel V,journaled to the free end of the arm S and adapted to engage thesprocket-chain, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

4. In a fcncemachine, the combination of the board A, the arms or platessecured to the said board and carrying the rotary twisters, each ofwhich is provided with a sprocketwheel, the sprocket-wheel Y, journaledto the arm which carries the upper twister, the end less chains toconnect the said sprocket-wheel with the sprocket-wheel of the uppertwister, the endless chain to connect the sprocket wheels of the lowertwisters together, and the operating sproekctwheel V, adapted to engagethe latter endless chain, for the purpose set forth, substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination of the tension-bar, the arms 0, having their innerends bifurcated, and thereby adapted to receive one edge of thetension-bar, the bolts extending through the bifurcated ends of the armsand through the tension-bar to secure the arms to the latter, thetension-plates F, and the clamping screws II, to clamp the said platesagainst the arms 0, for the purpose set forth, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination of the tension-bar, the arms 0, secured thereto, andhaving the upper flattened surfaces provided with the Ion gitudinalgrooves G and the recesses E, the plates F, adapted to fit the recessesand the clamping-screws passing centrally through the plates and thearms and located between the grooves G, for the purpose set forth, substantial] y as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDGAR SHERMAN PLACK ARD.

lVitnesses:

SAMUEL BEALE, J. N. N UGUM.

